Cordova Village Retail Center Sells for $3.4 Million

Cordova TN LLC, which lists a West Palm Beach, Fla., address, bought the 30,060-square-foot shopping center in an Oct. 22 special warranty deed from Cordova Village LLC.

No financing was associated with the transaction.

The Fallbrook, Calif.-based seller acquired the property in 2005 from IWS Shelby Partners for $4.5 million.

Built in 1988, the Class B center sits on 3.6 acres along the west side of North Germantown Parkway between Autumn Creek Drive and Club Parkway. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $2.9 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports– Daily News staff

Health Secretary Sebelius to Visit Memphis Friday

Two days after testifying to a U.S. House committee about problems with the new federal health care website, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will make a visit to Memphis at the end of the week.

Sebelius’ visit is being described as a "health insurance education and enrollment" opportunity. She’s coming to Memphis less than a week after being lampooned on “Saturday Night Live,” and only a few days after testifying to a congressional committee Wednesday, Oct. 30, about the troubled rollout of the administration’s health insurance website.

– Andy Meek

Barret’s Chapel May Expand to K-8 School

Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson will recommend the school board expand Barret’s Chapel Elementary School to kindergarten through eighth grade starting next school year. The school currently serves kindergarten through fifth grade.

Hopson announced the recommendation Monday, Oct. 28.

Parents of students at the elementary school were concerned about the long bus trip for those students to attend Mt. Pisgah Middle School next school year.

Barret’s Chapel had once been a K-8 school.

The school board also approved a memorandum of understanding with Christian Brothers University to consult with the school system on the development of a proposed STEAM optional school at Fairview Middle School, near the CBU campus. STEAM is a curriculum that emphasizes science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.

Over the five-year agreement, the university will provide consulting engineers and professional development at a cost of up to $25,000 a year, and university personnel will assist in developing the curriculum.

– Bill Dries

Commission Approves Employee Conversion Plan

Shelby County Commissioners at first defeated and then approved a plan Monday, Oct. 28, that would convert some temporary county government positions to full-time jobs and eliminate more temporary positions across county government and within the offices of countywide elected officials.

The revenue neutral plan is a reaction to the federal Affordable Care Act, which defines a 30-hour work week as a full-time employee with health care coverage effective with the new year.

The list of 19 temporary positions that would become full-time positions under the plan included the names of those currently holding the positions. That included a social media position at Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court now held by the son of court Chief Administrative Officer Larry Scroggs.

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kim Hackney said the jobs would be posted and filled after applicant interviews and a process supervised by the administration.

Commissioners voted on the Juvenile Court positions separately and then all the other positions in the plan, and in two separate votes, defeated both items.

The commission then reconsidered that vote, then voted on the plan as a single item and approved it.

– Bill Dries

RedRover Completes Move to New Office

RedRover Sales & Marketing has completed its move from South Main to its new home at 22 N. Front St.

The firm looked for a new spot Downtown because it outgrew the space that housed it for the last three years. RedRover founder and CEO Lori Turner-Wilson said this summer that the new space will allow the firm to grow to three times its current staff over the next five years.

– Andy Meek

Rainey Kizer Renews Downtown Lease

The law firm of Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell PLC has renewed its lease in the Raymond James Tower Downtown and expanded its presence there.

Its current expansion brings a larger conference room and more attorney offices, boosting the firm’s footprint by 30 percent and providing room for future growth.

Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors vice president Jeb Fields and associate Neely Mallory represented Rainey Kizer in the lease transaction. Rainey Kizer president John Burleson said many of the firm’s Jackson, Tenn.-based attorneys try cases in Memphis and work from the Downtown office during the trials, and being close to Interstate 40 and Interstate 55 also helps serve the firm’s Arkansas- and Mississippi-based clients.

With 38 attorneys, Rainey Kizer is one of the 20 largest firms in Tennessee. It was founded in Jackson in 1975 and opened an East Memphis office in 2005. As the firm grew, it moved Downtown in 2008.

– Andy Meek

Wright Medical to Present at Health Care Conference

Robert Palmisano, president and CEO of Wright Medical, will present at the conference, being held in Scottsdale, Ariz. A live audio webcast, along with Palmisano’s presentation materials, will be available on Wright's website, wmt.com.

This month, Wright Medical announced it had reached a $75 million agreement to buy the French company Biotech International, a privately held manufacturer of surgical implants and advanced fixation technologies that deal with fractures.

In addition, Wright Medical and MicroPort Scientific Corp. are awaiting regulatory approval for the proposed $290 million sale of Wright’s knee and hip division, OrthoRecon, to a division of Shanghai-based MicroPort.

Wright Medical won approval earlier this year to relocate its corporate headquarters from Arlington to Memphis. The company will maintain its manufacturing facilities in Arlington.